After spending a day criticising the size and start date of Labor's new tax cuts, the Coalition is set to reveal its own election pitch, and it starts at the petrol pump.
This is an election that multiple leading pollsters predict will be fought in the outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne in particular, where swinging voters will be critical.
Those are also parts of the nation with lots of car users, and the Coalition will reveal in tonight's budget reply that if elected, it would reduce fuel excise by 25 cents.
Labor's income tax cut is due to kick in next year and, on average, deliver about $5 extra a week in the first twelve months. That increases in the second year to deliver an average of $10 a week back to workers, costing $17.1 billion in revenue over three years from 2026-27.
According to estimates from the Coalition, their proposal would reduce fuel costs by approximately $14 per week, with the savings doubling for two-car households. The measure would apply to all drivers, not just wage earners, and would start immediately.
Dutton spent the budget hangover day trying to pick apart the government's centrepiece policy as a "cruel hoax", refusing to back the bills as Labor put them straight to the parliament and the treasurer promoted his "modest" tax cuts.
Drawing on previous Liberal governments' fuel excise cuts, this new policy would be temporary and reduce excise revenue by $6 billion over 12 months.
Tonight's budget reply from Dutton is also expected to reveal the size of the cut to the migration program.
A significant reduction has been foreshadowed by the Opposition, though Opposition treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor has recently declined to repeat a statement he made last year that the Coalition would cut net overseas migration by 25 per cent.
A gas reservation policy and a housing pitch may also be on the cards.
While drivers across the country keep an eye on the litres and dollars adding up as they fill up their tanks over the next six weeks, the Coalition will be heavily promoting this measure, hoping it triggers a political gear shift ahead of the election.
